According to a study published in November 2015 in the journal Nature, a diet high in carbohydrates — like added sugar, white bread, cookies, and cakes — reduces HDL cholesterol levels, increasing the risk for metabolic disorders. Refined carbohydrates found in foods labeled “low-fat” make these just as bad as full-fat foods because the fat is often replaced with carbohydrates from added sugar and other starches.
The National Cholesterol Education Program recommends you take in 2 grams of plant sterols and stanols each day. The FDA allows an approved health claim on phytosterols stating, "Foods containing at least 0.65 gram per serving of vegetable oil plant sterol esters, eaten twice a day with meals for a daily total intake of at least 1.3 grams, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease."
Filled with plant-based antioxidants and minerals, this protein-packed dairy alternative can help improve your lipid levels. That’s because it’s lower in saturated fat than other vegan swaps (ahem, coconut oil). Unsweetened versions cut back on sneaky sources of added sugar often found in beverages, so use it in your morning latte for a cholesterol-lowering caffeine boost.
There are tons of natural remedies out there for how to lower cholesterol levels, often promising quick results with next to no effort required on your part. But while it’s true that there are tons of options to keep cholesterol levels in check, it can actually be as simple as swapping out a few foods in your diet for healthier options, switching up your workout routine or adding a supplement or two into the mix.
Although this breakfast choice may not satisfy your kid (or your kid-at-heart), high fiber cereals are an easy way to improve your cholesterol profile. An American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study found that high fiber oat cereals lower LDL particle number without decreasing HDL concentrations, thus improving your ratio and giving HDL levels a percentage increase. Look for a product with a minimal amount of sugar and at least 5 grams of fiber per serving. A great oat-based choice is Barbara’s Morning Oat Crunch, which has 5 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein per cup.
Once you control your protein and starch portions, you can fill the rest of your plate with heart-healthy fruits and vegetables. Aim for four to five servings of vegetables and four to five servings of fruits every day. Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals and are great sources of fiber, which helps fill you up, control your weight, and improve cholesterol levels.
HDL is actually more complex than we once thought. Rather than being a single kind of particle, HDL is is now considered a family of different particles. All HDL contains lipids (fats), cholesterol and proteins (called apolipoproteins), but some types of HDL are spherical while others are shaped like a doughnut. Some HDL types remove bad cholesterol from the blood while other types are indifferent to cholesterol. Or even worse, some HDL transfers cholesterol the wrong way (into LDL and cells) or protects LDL in a way that makes it more harmful to the arteries.

Barley contains a powerful type of soluble fiber that helps keep cholesterol levels in check by effectively lowering total and LDL cholesterol without affecting HDL. This beta-glucan fiber works by preventing the body's absorption of cholesterol from food. Look for minimally processed pearled barley, the variety most commonly found in supermarkets.

If you’re one of the 73.5 million Americans who have unhealthy cholesterol levels, heart-healthy lifestyle changes are important ways to improve your cholesterol and prevent it from getting progressively worse. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fewer than half of people with high LDL cholesterol (the type of cholesterol that puts you at risk for heart disease) are getting treated, and not even one in three have their high cholesterol under control.

One drawback of going on a low-fat diet for some people is that it lowers HDL levels. If raising your HDL cholesterol is a primary concern, you should replace carbohydrates in your diet with fats, preferably mono- and polyunsaturated fats. But avoid trans fat, which can lower HDL levels. These steps can lower both total cholesterol and LDL and maintain HDL or boost it slightly, improving the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL.
It’s harder to increase HDL or "good" cholesterol than it is to lower LDL or total cholesterol. It’s estimated that up to 80 percent of the variation in HDL from person to person is due to genetic factors. But the following steps have been shown to boost HDL—and they are worth taking because they also lower total cholesterol and help protect the heart in many ways beyond their effect on HDL.
Along with exercising, eating a healthy diet is one of the most important things you can do to reach and maintain healthy cholesterol levels. Learn how to read nutrition labels and know the difference between healthy and unhealthy fats. Calories, calories from fat, total fat, saturated fat, and trans fat numbers are all right there on the nutrition facts label to help you make heart-healthy choices.

How much do you know about your cholesterol? You probably know that there are two different kinds – high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which is the “good” cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL), also known as the “bad” cholesterol. High HDL levels help carry cholesterol from your arteries to your liver and also possess antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, which are linked to a reduced risk of heart disease.

Most of us do not get enough fiber in our diet. The recommended amount is 25-35 grams of dietary fiber per day. Dietary fiber is a type of carbohydrate that the body cannot digest. As fiber passes through the body, it affects the way the body digests foods and absorbs nutrients. Fiber can help reduce your LDL cholesterol level. A fiber-rich diet can also help control blood sugar, promote regularity, prevent gastrointestinal disease and help you manage your weight.

Flavor foods with herbs and spices whenever you can. It’ll help you cut back on condiments high in saturated fat while maximizing flavor. Spices and herbs also pack antioxidants, which can help improve cholesterol levels when combined with veggies. Ones we love: Basil, cilantro, rosemary, sage, ginger, garlic, tarragon, black and red chili pepper, mint, and oregano.

As you already know, HDL is considered the good guy in the cholesterol game, and it can help your liver to get rid of the unhelpful cholesterol in your body. This is a very important task that HDL is able to accomplish since cholesterol can’t simply dissolve into the blood. The liver has the job of processing cholesterol among its other important jobs. HDL is the liver’s helper and a very good one at that. Having high levels of HDL reduces your risk for both heart disease and stroke, which is why you want to get your cholesterol under control. (10)

The National Cholesterol Education Program recommends you take in 2 grams of plant sterols and stanols each day. The FDA allows an approved health claim on phytosterols stating, "Foods containing at least 0.65 gram per serving of vegetable oil plant sterol esters, eaten twice a day with meals for a daily total intake of at least 1.3 grams, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease."
My Dr has ldl normal range as 50-100. I wish I had your ldl. I have a family history w Mom for higher cholesterol. No clue what my dads was. I think I would get another Dr opinion bc what dr tells me for my numbers compared to yours, he would probably praise you. Don’t get sucked into one dr trying to put you on statins w those numbers. Statins have their negative side for you too. I know it’s only my opinion but with your numbers, I think your doing great!
Do you dread opening up the white envelope of lab results after your annual physical only to discover a jumble of numbers, red ink, and arrows pointing every possible direction? Lipid or cholesterol panel results can be confusing to comprehend, and when numbers come back “out of range” it can only further fuel feelings of discouragement and helplessness.
Ground-breaking research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) studied nearly 9,000 European patients. All had previously suffered heart attacks. The trial found that those who reduced their LDL levels to an average 81 with high-dose statins significantly reduced their risk of major coronary events like heart attacks and strokes at the 4.8 year follow-up compared to patients who reduced their LDL to 104 on usual-dose statin therapy.
HDL levels below 40 mg/dL are associated with an increased risk of CAD, even in people whose total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels are normal. HDL levels between 40 and 60 mg/dL are considered "normal," and do not very much affect the risk of CAD one way or the other. However, HDL levels greater than 60 mg/dL are actually associated with a reduced risk of heart disease.
Where HDL is concerned, “you can’t be too thin,” Castelli says. One report found about a 1 percent rise in HDL for every pound of fat lost. This doesn’t mean you have to turn yourself into a toothpick, but that you should work on getting rid of excess flab as you add muscle. (Use a body-fat monitor rather than a scale to chart your progress.) Fortunately, fat loss is likely to go hand in hand with the exercise and dietary modifications that also raise HDL levels.

If you have been looking high and low for ways to lower your cholesterol, you’re not alone. High cholesterol is one of the most common health problems today. So what is cholesterol? There is LDL (bad) cholesterol and HDL (good) cholesterol. LDL cholesterol encourages a waxy plaque to build up in your arteries, which can lead to heart disease and other conditions. HDL cholesterol clears this plaque from your arteries and removes it from your body, which reduces your risk of these problems. Together, these form your “total” cholesterol levels. The way to improve your overall cholesterol is make changes that lower your LDL levels and raise your HDL levels.

A study published in February 2016 in the journal PLoS One concluded as much. For nearly 11,000 adults, researchers found that low to moderate alcohol consumption (20 or fewer drinks a week for a man, 10 or fewer for a woman) led to higher levels of HDL cholesterol. It also helped get them to healthier overall cholesterol levels, decreasing triglycerides (blood fats in blood) and lowering LDL cholesterol.
As a result of all this, doctors don’t just want you to lower your total cholesterol count; they want you to change the ratio as well, so you have more HDL and less LDL. “When we looked at the data, we found that the higher your HDL went, the lower your risk of heart attack,” says cardiologist William Castelli, M.D., former director of the Framingham Heart Study in Massachusetts. An HDL level of 75 or more seems to convey extra longevity for many people, while a count of 100 or more is so beneficial that it was dubbed the “Methuselah syndrome” by one researcher. HDL less than 35 or so, meanwhile, can carry significant risk of heart disease. Genetics plays a large role in HDL. A few guys have naturally low levels and need to keep their LDL low as well to make up for it. (As Castelli puts it, you don’t need a substance that removes cholesterol from your blood if you don’t have much to begin with.) But there’s plenty that everyone else can do to pump up their HDL. Never one to shirk from a task that doesn’t involve housecleaning, I managed to find two handfuls of ways to turn my “good” numbers into great numbers.
Trans fats are a byproduct of the chemical reaction that turns liquid vegetable oil into solid margarine or shortening and that prevents liquid vegetable oils from turning rancid. These fats have no nutritional value — and we know for certain they are bad for heart health. Trans fats increase LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels while reducing levels of HDL cholesterol.

There's no magical food to keep your heart healthy, but there are a lot of foods that can help—including these foods that help lower your cholesterol. In addition to cutting back on foods that can raise total cholesterol and getting enough exercise, make sure to eat more of these foods that improve your cholesterol profile by raising "good" HDL and/or lowering "bad" LDL cholesterol. These foods include some old standbys, such as oatmeal and fruit, plus a few surprising foods that can help lower cholesterol to reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke.

Reduce the amount of sugar and flour in your diet. Recent evidence indicates that added sugar – in the form of table sugar (sucrose) or high-fructose corn syrup – is probably a greater contributor to heart disease than is consumption of saturated fat. This suggests that the inflammatory hypothesis may in fact have more validity than the conventional lipid hypothesis, although the debate is far from settled. As a general rule, Dr. Weil advises against consuming foods with added sugars, particularly soft drinks and highly processed snack foods, which can cause rapid spikes and dips in blood sugar levels. The result can be overeating, obesity and heart disease.
It’s harder to increase HDL or "good" cholesterol than it is to lower LDL or total cholesterol. It’s estimated that up to 80 percent of the variation in HDL from person to person is due to genetic factors. But the following steps have been shown to boost HDL—and they are worth taking because they also lower total cholesterol and help protect the heart in many ways beyond their effect on HDL.

Get Moving – Want healthy HDL levels? It’s time to lace up those sneakers and start exercising! Being physically active is essential for a healthy heart. Many types of exercise will help raise your HDL cholesterol, including high-intensity exercise, aerobic exercise, and strength training. Shoot to exercise most days out of the week for at least 30 minutes each session to experience the benefits.

Saturated fats. Typical sources of saturated fat include animal products, such as red meat, whole-fat dairy products, and eggs, and also a few vegetable oils, such as palm oil, coconut oil, and cocoa butter. Saturated fat can increase your levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol. But it has some benefits, too — it lowers triglycerides and nudges up levels of "good" HDL cholesterol.
Green, leafy vegetables, esp. kale, collards, swiss chard are a few vegetables which help. Fiber in apples (pectin) may reduce LDL levels. It is VERY important to eliminate all forms of sugar for a few weeks, reintroduce (ONLY one for a month or so) a slightly sweet food, and switch different types of sweet foods to see which sweet food is more tolerable.
HDL cholesterol is “good” because elevated blood levels have been associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. However, clinical trials with experimental medications aimed at increasing HDL cholesterol levels, so far, have been largely disappointing. HDL researchers have gone back to the drawing board to figure out what it is about HDL that may reduce the risk of heart disease.
"These fish are best for cholesterol, but any fish is better than red meat," says Pacold. “Every time you have fish as a protein source instead of red meat, you are doing your heart a favor.” If you don't eat fish, you can get your needed dose of omega-3s in the form of a diet supplement pill, he suggests. Flaxseeds, walnuts, and even mixed greens are plant-based options to get more omega-3s in your diet.
Because increasing HDL levels is thought to be such a beneficial thing, and because there is no easy or reliable way to do so, developing drugs that substantially raise HDL levels has become a major goal for several pharmaceutical companies. And indeed, several of these drugs have been developed, and have led to clinical trials to demonstrate their safety and efficacy.

Controlling your weight is an important part of getting to healthy cholesterol levels, so it’s crucial to know your portion sizes if you're trying to lower cholesterol. A portion of starchy carbohydrate, like potato or pasta, should be only about half the size of a baseball. A heart-healthy portion of meat should be about the size of a deck of playing cards, or about three ounces.

HDL serves as a chemical shuttle that transports excess cholesterol from peripheral tissues to the liver. This pathway is called the RCT system. In this system, plasma HDL takes up cholesterol from the peripheral tissues, such as fibroblasts and macrophages. (A study by El Khoury et al indicated that in persons with HALP, macrophages have an increased plasma cholesterol efflux capacity. [18] ) This may occur by passive diffusion or may be mediated by the adenosine triphosphate (ATP)–binding cassette transporter 1. The latter interacts directly with free apo A-I, generating nascent, or so-called discoidal, HDL. Cholesterol undergoes esterification by lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) to produce cholesteryl ester, which results in the production of the mature spherical HDL. Cholesterol is also taken up from triglyceride-rich lipoproteins in a process mediated by a phospholipid transfer protein (ie, CETP). [19, 20, 21, 22]